Just for a Moment
by JealousGreenEyes
Summary: "I want you to remember this, remember that your so much more than just a vampire"
1. Just For a Moment

_Follow your dreams until they seem like nightmares compared to reality._

"Damon" she breathed, she thought she would have gotten use to him appearing in her room in the late hours of the night by now, but it still made her jump with a sick sort of elation.

"Elena" he mocked, getting up from the window seat, his face illuminated by the moonlight coming through the window.

She didn't ask what he was doing here, too scared that he'd tell her the truth. She ran her hand through her hair tiredly then moved over to make room for him on the bed.

He collapsed onto it, over the covers, with an exaggerated sigh. "How are you feeling? And don't even think about saying fine" he warned. With each passing day the underlying threat of the sacrifice seemed to magnify and lately she was feeling suffocated.

She looked down at her hands; she had been using that word a lot lately, with dismissals of 'I'm fine' or 'Everything's ok'. It was ironic really, because absolutely nothing felt like it was 'OK' recently.

"I don't know how I feel, it's just…" she trailed off taking a deep breath, "I'm scared" she admitted.

His arm wrapped around her, offering her a comforting embrace that she willing fell in to. "You're allowed to be scared, Elena" he whispered.

"I'm not scared of dying" she said, looking up at him from beneath her dark eyelashes, "I'm scared for Jeremy, who's going to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, Jenna needs help to look after him. Then there's Stefan, what if he loses control again? And then Caroline-"

He cut her off, "I'm not going to let you die Elena"

She shook her head, living wasn't going to be an option and she had come to accept that, so she continued on like he hadn't spoken, "Then there's you, what I'm I going to do about you?" she asked, laughing softly, "I want you to remember this, remember that your so much more than just a vampire. You deserve to be loved Damon, don't forget that"

He shut his eyes, unable to hear her talk like they had already lost. "It's not over yet Elena, we can get through this"

She had a wistful look in her eyes for a second but it changed to one of regret, "I wish I could have told you this sooner, and then maybe you would have believed me."

"Told me what?" he asked, watching as her gaze fixed on his lips then her deep brown eyes meet his.

"I care about you, I never lied when I said that, and I still mean it now after everything. Somehow all the things you did don't seem to matter as much, I thought it might have been because soon I'll be gone but now I know better" her hand reached up to caress his check softly, her gently touch a sharp contrast compared to the intensity in her eyes, "I can look past everything that's happened between us, because I love you"

He leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling and surprised her by laughing humourlessly, "Perfect, this is perfect" he bite out sarcastically.

"Damon?"

He shook his head, his dark hair falling over his eyes, "I've waited for so long to here you say that to me. So fucking long, and now…" his eyes sparkled with tears he wasn't prepared to shed, frustrated that after more than a century his love was now requited, and she was about to be taken away from him.

He liked to think there was a way to keep her alive, but now lying on her bed after her proclamation of love, it became so painfully obvious that they had lost. She was going to die. Because when did anything ever work out for him?

Her hands pulled at his shoulders, he let her pull him closer, and let her press her lips against his. She wouldn't let him look so lost, because her time was limited. She had no time to waste anymore.

Hungrily he kissed her back, deepening the kiss, feeling a mixture of their salty tears on his lips. This was their moment, one that not Stefan or Klaus or anyone could take from them. In this one moment he held his world in his arms, and never wanted to let go. In this moment Elena knew she wanted him, needed him, no one else but him.

"Elena?"

Elena's eyes opened slowly, a smile on her lips that died as soon as she looked around. She was in the Boarding House, the sun lighting up the whole room brightly, with the wrong brother's arms around her waist.

"Stefan?" she asked, feeling close to theirs as she looked into his eyes. This was all wrong. His eyes should be blue. She wanted to scream out in frustration, feeling the ghost of a kiss on her lips, one she now longed for.

"You were muttering something in your sleep again" he said wondering distantly why she was staring into his eyes so deeply, with some sort of desperate need, "Are you OK?"

When she finally accepted that his eyes would not change colour, and his gaze could never hold the loving look that made her feel safe and make her heart beat faster all at once, she nodded, "I'm fine, everything's OK" There was only one person who know she was lying through her teeth, only one person that could make everything OK. But only in her dreams could she be with him…


	2. Facing Reality

Elena stood by the window in the kitchen on the Salvatore Boarding House; she had been cradling a cup of coffee in her hands for the last five minutes but had yet to take a sip. She looked out at the forest surrounding the house, without really seeing it. Stefan had fallen back to sleep and she couldn't stay in his bed any longer; she wasn't ready to have a replay of her last dream.

"Penny for your thoughts" she didn't even jump when she felt his warm breath on her neck, she had to refrain from leaning back further into his arms. She couldn't do that, this wasn't a dream, this was reality, and in reality Damon could get hurt if she lead him on like that.

She turned round to face him, her eyes drawn to his unbuttoned shirt, revealing his toned chest; his skin looking like it was made of porcelain with no imperfections. She couldn't deny he was beautiful; she had always noticed it but only now really seemed to appreciate it. Her eyes wandered up his muscular physique, to his carved shoulders, his smooth jaw line, up to his slightly opened lips and perfectly tousled dark hair. Her cheeks blushed as she meet his eyes. A smirk took hold of his lips, and she cursed herself as a knowing look came into his eyes. A look that made her feel naked, like he could read her thoughts, and she wondered if she was really that easy to read.

Damon was about the come out with a remark that would have deepened the rosy undertones in her cheek if he hadn't heard footsteps on the staircase. He took a step backwards, with one last smirk in her direction before Stefan called, "Elena, are you done here?"

He stepped into the kitchen his smile only wavering for the briefest of seconds as he saw Damon, he regained composure quickly and Elena never noticed the difference "There you are"

Elena coughed trying to recover, "Yeah, I just came down to get some coffee" she said holding up her now freezing cold coffee, feeling guilty that she had to force a smile.

He came between her and Damon, placing a kiss on her lips; she shut her eyes tightly as she tried not to think about how it didn't taste quite right. _It was a dream, _her mind kept repeating, in the hopes that she would realise she never kissed Damon before.

Damon's jaw clenched, stepping further back, "I hate to be the one to interrupt" _Not, _he added mentally, rolling his eyes, "but we have things to discuss" _like how I'm going to save your girlfriends life_. Stefan turned his head to look at him, giving him a hard look like he knew what Damon was thinking.

"Elijah's coming over later, we'll talk about it then" Stefan said, and in that moment whatever little amount of respect Damon had once had for his brother went out the window. Did he not realise they didn't have time to _wait_ on others; Klaus could come for Elena any day, any _second_.

"Fine enjoy you're little chat with Elijah, but in case you haven't noticed talking about stopping Klaus isn't going to stop him" Damon bite back with as much venom in his voice as he could manage, then he was gone.

Elena stared at the empty space Damon was only seconds ago, a chill going down her back, "Maybe we should-"

Stefan shook his head, "It's useless, there's no talking to him when he gets like this"

"He might do something stupid" Elena was feeling conflicted, looking between the door and Stefan.

"When does he not?" Stefan joked, rubbing her back to try to comfort her; she had enough to worry about as it was.

"Stefan" her voice was disapproving, she was trying to be serious, and she couldn't lose him because he went on a suicide mission to save her.

He sighed but nodded, "Your right, I'll go find him"

"No, wait, I'll go, you stay, talk to Elijah"

"You won't be able to find him"

"Don't worry" she pushed herself onto the tips of her toes, pressing a chaste kiss on his lips, "I love you" she whispered against his lips.

"I love you too, just… be careful"

"I will" she promised before heading for the door as Stefan regretfully watched her leave.

…

Elena went home, somehow knowing Damon would want a partner in crime to help him, and Alaric spent a lot of time at her house with Jenna recently.

She pulled into the driveway beside Damon's blue Camaro, not surprised that she had knew where he would go, she knew him a lot better than Stefan thought she did.

She was at the front porch steps when the door opened, "I just need to get things from my apartment then I'll met you back here" Alaric was saying, he opened his mouth to say something else but stopped when he saw Elena.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking over his shoulder to see Damon shutting the door behind him.

"We're going to do some research" Damon said smoothly, "Find out more about Klaus, nothing for you to worry about" he smirked, nodding for Alaric to go.

Elena stepped in front of Alaric, looking him in the eye, and hoping that all the time he had spent with Damon hadn't made him a good liar, "Is that true?"

Alaric looked between her curious gaze and Damon's frightening glare, his fingers curling around with his car keys. His sense of loyalty overriding his fear of what Damon could do to him, after all he considered Damon to be his friend… sort of.

"Yes" he said weakly before sighing and shaking his head, "No, well in a way, yes we need to do some research"

"You're planning in killing Klaus, aren't you? That's why you're going to your apartment to get weapons; does Jenna know you're doing this?" she demanded her arms crossing against her chest.

Damon rolled his eyes, "We're not planning on killing him we're going to, if Alaric would hurry up already" he gave Alaric another meaningful look of frustration, "Sometime today would be nice"

"Sorry Elena, I tried doing it Stefan's way, but I can't wait around for someone to just come and take you. Jenna wouldn't want that either." He squeezed her forearm slightly, before stepping to the side and making his way out of the driveway to his car.

She turned to focus on Damon, thinking of ways to get him to stop trying to save her because he'd only get killed in the process, and she couldn't lose him, last night she had realised that.

"Stop looking at me like that" Damon said suddenly, "It's not going to work"

"What isn't?"

"Those damn puppy dog eyes" he sat down on the porch steps, hating how much she affected him. She treated him like he was worth more than a vampire like he was some kind of hero, but all heroes had weaknesses, and she was most definitely his.

She sat down beside him, knowing she had to stop him, he'd get himself killed, then she'd never be able to tell him how she felt.

"I had a dream last night" she started, not sure what to say next.

He looked up at her with raised eyebrows, completely bewildered, he was waiting for her to threaten him to stay not tell him about her dreams. He himself had not slept at all last night, too consumed by the thought of losing someone else that he loved. Sure that it would be a million times worse than the feeling he had when Katherine wasn't in the tomb.

"It doesn't really matter what happened in it, it just made me see things differently. I don't want to die, Damon, but I'd rather die than let others die to save me" she took hold of his hand, desperate to make him understand, "You were right, that time you told me I was lying because I was lying to myself this whole time, but not anymore"

"Elena, what are you saying?"

"I only wish I could have told you this sooner, because I know I don't have long left, but I need to tell you this before you get yourself killed" she looked up at him through her dark eyelashes, she knew what happened after this point in the dream, he would be angry because he would realise that finally she loves him but he was going to lose her, blaming the cruel ways of karma for his disastrous love life. Then, they would kiss, and it would be perfect, no it would be so much better than perfect.

"You see I _know_ now that I-" he was staring at her, hanging on her every word, but she was cut off by the sound of an engine. He felt like running towards that engine and pulling it straight out of the car, just to have her finish that sentence, but he knew it was too late, she wasn't about to finish that sentence anytime soon.

It was Alaric's car, and he had pulled into driveway, waiting for Damon to get in so they could go find Klaus.

"I've got to go" he murmured, reluctantly letting go of her hand, "but I'll be back, then you can tell me about your dream, ok?"

She nodded, forcing a smile, "Damon" she called as he started to walk away.

He looked at her over his shoulder, a tortured look on his face proving he was feeling the same way as she was, "Don't die, ok?"

It was his turn to nod and force a smile, he walked past his own car, getting into Alaric's instead.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Alaric asked.

Damon looked in the side view mirror, more determined than ever to keep the girl in the reflection alive, "Let's go"

Alaric obeyed, pressing his foot onto the acceleration and pulling the car out of the driveway.

As Elena watched the car pull away, she realised she had just let him go, and something sparked inside her, a sudden burst of adrenaline. She got to her feet, getting into her car and reversing hastily. She would phone Stefan later; right now however she would follow Damon.


End file.
